Heterogeneity and Its Impact on Rehabilitation Outcomes and Interventions for Community Reintegration in People With Spinal Cord Injuries: An Integrative Review

The study summarizes evidence on the attributes that make the SCI population heterogeneous, the impact of these attributes on community reintegration, and the implications of heterogeneity for rehabilitation interventions directed toward optimizing community reintegration. SCI is not a static condition but rather a process of continuous adaptation where various factors interact with the person’s injury to make it a complex phenomenon. Approaches directed at community reintegration should involve components of psychosocial, physical, and vocational rehabilitation while considering personal and societal aspects of an individual’s life.

• 1
  An array of injury-related, personal, social, and environmental factors are associated with various rehabilitation outcomes that affect community reintegration of people with SCI.
• 2
  Social support, self-efficacy, and self-esteem facilitate community reintegration among people with SCI
• 3
  Presence of psychological or medical complications decreases community reintegration.